No birth certificates, education for unvaccinated children!
29 January, 2013
LAHORE: The Punjab Health Department has decided that children who have not been vaccinated for measles, polio, hepatitis and TB will not be issued their birth certificates nor will they be allowed admission in schools. These decisions were made in a meeting chaired by the Lahore DCO following countless deaths due to measles, polio, hepatitis and TB. Schools across the city will also be informed that children without proper vaccinations should not be admitted under any circumstances. More than 1,000 cases of measles have been reported in Punjab and most of them in Lahore. Meanwhile, Punjab Health Special Secretary Babar Hayat Tarar said that the officials of the Health Department had to utilise their professional capabilities and work day and night in order to control the spread of measles by further augmenting surveillance, case reporting and timely case response. Presiding over a follow-up meeting after the chief secretary held at the committee room of the Health Department regarding controlling the spread of measles in the province. The special secretary directed the officials to further improve the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) for children, remove deficiencies in routine immunisation, improve case response in areas where measles disease is reported and make the mop-up campaign even more effective. He directed health officers to ensure implementation of decisions taken in the commissioner's conference held under the chairmanship of the Punjab chief secretary on Sunday regarding controlling the spread of measles. He said that surveillance and case reporting should be further strengthened in order to chalk out complete data of children affected by the diseases. The special secretary also directed them to ensure special steps for medical care of patients with measles in all government hospitals of the province. The meeting was attended by Health Additional Secretary (Establishment) Asfand Yar Khan, Health DG (Vector Born Diseases) Dr Jaffar Ilyas, EDO (Health) Dr Inamul Haq, Lady Health Workers Programme Provincial Coordinator Dr Akhtar Rashid Malik, Health Addl Director (Headquarters) Dr Atiqur Rehman, Dr Salman Shahid and others. End.
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